Improvement in detaching-hooks



J. A. LORD,Jr.

Detaching Boats. No. 109,328. Patented Nov. 15, 1870.

WITNESSES. lA/VE/VTOfif MPETERS, PHOTO-LITHQGRAPNER, WASH NbTON D C am-1one JOSEPH A. LORD, JR, OF MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT.

Letters Patent No. 109,328, dated November 15, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN DETACHlNG-HOOKS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whom it may concern:

Be'it known that I, JOSEPH A. LORD, Jr., of

Middletown, in the county'oflyliddlesex and State of Connecticut, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in. Boat-Detachers; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which-'Figure 1 represents, in perspective, the stern of a boat suspended atthe davits.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the tackle-hook and detaoher.

It is frequently necessary to lower a boat from a vessel in motion, andit is well known that this proceeding often involves considerable dangerif the tackle-hooks are not promptly and almost instantaneouslyliberated at the proper moment. In ordinary practice a man is stationedat each end'of the boat for the purpose of unbooking when the boat restsupon the water, but it is practically difitic-ult for two men sostationed to act in concert, and it has occurred that one or the otherhas failed and a sacrifice of life has resulted.

To avoid theseditliculties, and the consequent perils, many devices havebeen contrived whereby a single person, situate at or near the middle ofthe boat,

should be enabled to disengage both ends of the boats from their tacklesat the same instant. In practice these contrivances have notprovedsatisfactory on account of liability to derangement orobstruction. I have, thercfore, ini'ented an automatic device which willbe certain to act at the instant the weight of the.

boat is supported by the water,.and so simple in construction that itwill not be liable to derangement or obstruction, and ifderanged fromany cause it may still be employed in the ordinary manner of commonhooks.

My improvement is confined entirely to-the hook which is attached to thelower block of the da'vit-fall and It consists of a spring detacherretracted to admit the eye-bolt ring, and retained in that position solong as the weight of the boat rests in said hook, bu t with sufiicientpower to eject said ring at the instantwhen the boat is supported by thewater, and the strain upon the hook thereby relieved.

That others may fully understand the method I boat by the water.

have adopted to embody my invention, I will particularly describe it.

' In fig. 1 Arepresents the stern of a boat suspended from the davits orcranes of a vessel.

B is the stern eye-bolt, and-C its ring.

D is'the tacklc-hook, and

l), the lower block of the davit-fall.

A detacher-arm, F, is pivoted to the hookl) just below the eye of saidhook, and said detacher i's drawn back or retracted when the ring C isplaced in the bend of the hook, asshown in fig. 1. a

A stiff spring G is seated in a recessbehind the detacher F to throwsaid detacher forward instantly upon being relieved of resistance by thelifting-of the The bend of the hook is not as deep as in the ordinaryhook, but it is fashioned so as to describe nearly an arc of a circleabout the pivot-pin f, upon which the detacher F moves. C

The bend is sufliciently deep, however, for all purposes, and if thedetacher should be disabled from any cause the hook D wouldstill beavailable in the ordinary way.' The spring G isretaiued in place by alip formed on one of its ends, which engages in a corresponding recessformed in the hook or in the detacher, so that it cannotv becomedisplaced unless broken, or by the removal of the detacher. If broken,however, the de-- tacher is easily removable and a new spring may beinserted in its place, and this may be donewithout removing the hookfrom its tackle, and even while -the. boat is hanging thereon.

I am aware that other automatic detaclzlng devices have been made, but Iam not aware th t any such devices have been made similar in form to anordinary hook, or capable of use as an ordinary hock, if disabled, as anautomatic detacher.

Having described my invention,

What I claim as new is- I A book, D, provided with a spring-detacher, F,constructed and operating substantially in the man ner shown anddescribed.

- J. A. LORD, JR.

Witnesses:

CURTIS Bacon, JAMES P. FAY.

